Lord of the Flies

1. Author

1.1. Wiliam Golding

1.2. Born: 9/19/1911 Death: 6/19/1993

1.3. British

1.4. William Golding was born September 19, 1911, in Saint Columb Minor, Cornwall, England. In 1935 he started teaching English and philosophy in Salisbury. He temporarily left teaching in 1940 to join the Royal Navy. In 1954 he published his first novel, Lord of the Flies. In 1983, he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature. On June 19, 1993, he died in Perranarworthal, Cornwall, England.

2. General Info

2.1. September 17, 1954

2.2. Novel

2.3. English

2.4. An Uninhabited Island in the Pacific Ocean, at an unknown—but probably 1950ish—year during a fictional atomic war.

3. Plot

3.1. Around 30-50 boys of various ages are stranded on an island and there are no visible adults in sight.

3.2. They realize they must not only find food and water, but also that they need to find a way to get off the island. Not to mention keep from attacking each other, they are all small to adolescent males so fights are bound to break out.

3.3. They are all very spoiled and incapable children, except maybe a few select older ones.

3.4. Simon encounters the Lord of the Flies in the forest glade and realizes that the beast is not a physical entity but rather something that exists within each boy on the island. When Simon tries to approach the other boys and convey this message to them, they fall on him and kill him savagely.

3.5. Virtually all the boys on the island abandon Ralph and Piggy and descend further into savagery and chaos. When the other boys kill Piggy and destroy the conch shell, Ralph flees from Jack’s tribe and encounters the naval officer on the beach.

3.6. Piggy and Simon are killed, and the rest of the boys are lost deeply in savagery. This must have left severe mental damaging if not traumatization throughout the children, yet some of them may have been reduced to pure primitive beings, living off nothing but instinct.

4. Themes, Allusions & Symbols

4.1. Civilization vs. savagery; the loss of innocence; innate human evil

4.2. The "Beast" is really just the natural instinct of humans to cause harm, destroy, and compete.

4.3. The title is a literal translation from Hebrew for Beelzebub, the devil's right hand demon in hell. This allusion emphasizes the evil that reigns over the island and within humankind.

5. Characters

5.1. Ralph: Very cocky and athletic, also very strong-headed and stubborn. Image: http://pureheavencotons.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/chess_good_vs_evil_by_thewhysoserious91-d5tm81c.jpg

5.2. Piggy: Quirky and chubby, weak. Image: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/47/Wikibully.jpg Simon: Shy and strange, maybe even mysterious. Image: http://41.media.tumblr.com/ea93105f4f4b90e5f4815657892814a8/tumblr_no3qek7xUZ1uvnnhfo1_1280.jpg Jack: Cocky and rude, consumed by utter savagery. Image: http://vignette2.wikia.nocookie.net/irishcomics/images/b/b3/Anarchy.jpg/revision/20091101095955 Roger: Quiet and reserved, yet cruel and broken inside. Image: http://img10.deviantart.net/d359/i/2014/210/4/2/roger_lord_of_the_flies_by_kiruiy-d7sqqmh.jpg

5.3. Jack: Cocky and rude, consumed by savagery. Image: http://vignette2.wikia.nocookie.net/irishcomics/images/b/b3/Anarchy.jpg/revision/20091101095955 The Beast: Mysterious and ruthless, yet terrifying. Image: http://img05.deviantart.net/d6f1/i/2013/206/8/c/inner_beast_by_emerbee-d6f70xu.png

6. Vocabulary

6.1. Section 1

6.1.1. Enmity: He trotted through the sand, enduring the sun’s enmity, crossed the platform and found his scattered clothes. Definition: Deep anger.

6.1.2. Hiatus: There came a pause, a hiatus, the pig continued to scream and the creepers to jerk, and the blade continued to flash at the end of a bony arm. Definition: A break or pause.

6.2. Section 2

6.2.1. Taboo: Here, invisible yet strong, was the Taboo of the old life. Definition: A social or religious custom prohibiting or forbidding discussion of a particular practice.

6.2.2. Crooning: He sat there, crooning to himself and throwing sand at an imaginary Percival. Definition: Hum or sing in a soft, low voice, especially in a sentimental manner.

6.3. Section 3

6.3.1. Crestfallen: “I don’t remember this cliff,” said Jack, crestfallen, “so this must be the bit of the coast I missed” Definition: Depressed.

6.3.2. Demure: Each of them wore the remains of a black cap and ages ago they had stood in two demure rows and their voices had been the song of angels. Definition: Quiet or reserved.

6.4. Section 4

6.4.1. Myopia: The twins watched anxiously and Piggy sat expressionless behind the luminous wall of his myopia. Definition: Blindness or lack of proper vision.

6.4.2. Cordon: There he would sit, and the search would pass him by, and the cordon waver on, ululating along the island, and he would be free. Definition: A line of people.

7. Summary

7.1. Two boys by the name of Ralph and "Piggy" find a conch and decide to attempt a rally of sorts, to gather up a meeting between all the boys. They all group together and decide that Ralph is the chief, in which second in command becomes Jack Merridew. They then proceed to build a fire to alert nearby ships of their presence on the island, at which point a small boy with a huge birthmark on his face speaks up about a "beastie". He describes it as a huge snake that only comes out at night and hangs itself in the trees to turn into a vine, a description very similar to that of a python or anaconda. From that point on the older kids are constantly trying to dismiss the idea of such a creature, yet the next day the kid with the birthmark goes missing because he was playing in the valley the accidentally lit on fire.

7.2. Jack and Ralph get in an argument about which to prioritize, hunting, or building shelters. Ralph attempts to acquire help from the other kids, but cannot get their attention in which they ultimately wander off. Then Roger follows a young boy named Henry and starts throwing rocks around him, but won't hit him. This shows that Roger is eager to inflict pain or kill, but still follows the old rules of life. It is only a matter of time until he realizes that he can kill. Jack then paints his face and gets the other boys to help him kill a pig, in which he succeeds. In all the commotion they all forget to keep the fire lit and a ship passes by without noticing them. In shame Jack smacks Piggy breaking his glasses. Ralph proceeds to hold a meeting and Jack takes the conch and starts attempting to declare dominance over Ralph.

7.3. Jack goes off to hunt the beast saying he's not scared of the Beast, and takes most of the boys with him to go hunting it. He also declares Ralph is not a good chief, so Ralph wants to give up being chief because he's lost all control. He is convinced otherwise by Piggy and Simon who realize Jack will be a terrible chief and would bully Piggy ceaselessly. Then while everyone is asleep planes above them fight and a dead man in a parachute falls down. Sam and Eric see it and think it is the beast because of the dark, and run away scared. Ralph and the other older boys attempt to search for the Beast in an unexplored part of the island, they don't find any beast there and turn around to head back to the mountain. On their way back Ralph gets a taste of how fun it is to hunt, which results in them playing a game where someone pretends to be the pig. This gets pretty violent after a while. When they finally get there it is dark and Jack, Ralph, and Roger climb up the mountain and see the beast. They flee in terror, not understanding it was just a dead guy in a parachute because of the dark. Back at camp Jack tries to get the other boys to vote Ralph off as chief but none of them do.

7.4. Jack runs away in humiliation and says that anyone who wants to go hunting can come with him. The boys build a fire on the beach instead of on the mountain, however, most of the boys sneak off to go with Jack later. The older boys with Jack go off to kill a pig, and put it's head on a stake as tribute to the Beast. Later Ralph's group raids the other boys to steal fire, and invites them all to a feast where they may join the tribe. Meanwhile Simon goes off on his own and sees the head of the pig, then he has an epileptic fit. But before he does the head claims it's the beast, or the lord of the flies. It laughs at him and said the Beast is inside the boys, not something you can hunt or kill. Simon wakes up and heads to the mountain and sees the dead man in a parachute. He runs off to tell everyone there is no beast. Ralph and Piggy show up at Jack's feast and are allowed to eat. Jack makes all the boys do the pig hunting game, while they chant: "Kill the Beast, cut his throat, spill his blood." During this "game" Simon comes out of the jungle and is killed by everyone, because they thought he was the Beast. The next night Jack and his hunters raid Ralph's group for Piggy's glasses so they can make their own fire. Piggy decides that they should go and demand his glasses back, because that's what's right. The other boys won't let them in, and when Jack comes back from hunting he has Sam and Eric tied up. Jack and Ralph fight, while they fight Piggy comes up and asks them whether it was better to follow law and reason or savagery and destruction. Then Roger kills Piggy with a boulder at which none of the children are even phased but Ralph, Sam, and Eric. In fact Jack encouraged it. Then Jack and Roger start torturing Sam and Eric, however later Ralph comes back and talks to Sam and Eric who tell him that he will be hunted the next day. And that Roger sharpened a stake on both ends, presumably to stick his head on. Ralph hides in the bushes, but Sam and Eric tell Jack where he is which causes Jack to light the entire island on fire. Ralph runs out to the beach, and meets a British officer who came to investigate the smoke. He tries to explain what happens, but ends up weeping instead. The other boys follow suit realizing what they've done.